1. Field of the Technology
The present application relates generally to vehicular flasher units for illuminating vehicle flasher lights (e.g. turn signal flashers) for vehicles (e.g. automobiles), and more particularly to vehicular flasher units having selectable flasher schemes which utilize pulse width modulated (PWM) signals to illuminate the vehicle flasher lights, where one of the flasher schemes includes a “heartbeat” pattern flasher scheme.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vehicular flasher unit in an engine-propelled ground-based vehicle (e.g. an automobile) is used to provide left/right hand turn signaling or emergency hazard signaling. The vehicular flasher unit typically includes a bi-metal switch and/or hybrid relay devices. These types of flasher units are inflexible in many ways.
What is needed is an intelligent vehicular flasher unit that is operative to produce distinctive, user-selectable flash patterns. Some of these flash patterns should be interesting or attractive to vehicle operators. The vehicular flasher unit should further be designed so it can control both turn signal lamps and emergency hazard lamps, thereby reducing cost and complexity of a wiring harness of the vehicle. The unit should be further adapted to drive either incandescent lamps or light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in an appropriate manner. Safety features (e.g. increasing turn signal and emergency hazard warning visibility) should further be provided.